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Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Guava Curry

Most acidic fruits like elephant apples, Indian jujube, green mangoes, Indian olives and star fruits, to name a few, are cooked in a sweet/sour kind of chutney but we have always had guavas without cooking. Guava curry is more popular in the western and drier regions of our country.Guava is one of the most common fruits of summer and they are nutritious. It is said that one guava contains four times the amount of vitamin C as an orange. Tropical fruits always remind me of my childhood as we had so many trees and summer afternoons were spent amid those trees and the fruits they bore. Some trees bear fruits during winter too but winter harvests are never as bounteous as the one in summer.

Yesterday's harvest. I left out the semi-ripe ones from this photo. The brown patches look a little unsightly but does nothing to the taste!:) My yard has three trees. The first one came from my parents' garden. I had dug up a sapling that grew next to a guava tree of the pink variety. I was so sure that it would produce pink fruits too. Three or four years later, I can't remember exactly, I was disappointed to see that the pulp was creamy white. But the taste was so sweet that I didn't really keep on thinking about pink...

Coming to the recipe, it's from an old magazine that used the pink variety.Ingredients:1/2 tsp cumin seeds1/2 tsp mustard seeds1/2 tsp fennel seeds10 -12 curry leaves2-3 green chillies, scored lengthwiseA pinch of hing/asafoetida1/2 cup curd, beaten2 tomatoes, chopped5 semi-ripe guavas, deseeded and diced3 tsp, grated jaggery1 tbsp lemon juice1/2 tsp garam masalaSalt to tasteChopped herbs of your choice (I used serrated coriander)2 tbs mustard oilMethod:Heat the oil in a pan. When it's hot enough, add the fennel, cumin and mustard seeds.Once they sputter, add the curry leaves, green chillies and hing.Add the chopped tomatoes and cook till they turn mushy. This will take about 10 minutes.Stir in the beaten curd and give the mix a good stir.Add about 1/2 cup warm water and the diced guavas. Simmer for another 10 minutes or so till the guavas turn soft.Add the jaggery, garam masala, lemon juice and salt. Check and make adjustments, if needed.Take it off the heat and garnish with the chopped herbs,This goes with either rice or with puris.

Pink guavas from my mother's garden

I loved it. Although my boys weren't keen on it, I'm glad I tried this dish. Particularly with home-grown produce.